NWSG & Pines

[younggun1849]

Anybody have any experience in planting NWSG and Pines/Spruce into the same area? I'd like the NWSG to provide some cover while the pines grow. Will this stunt the growth of the pines? I think a combination of pines & NWSG would make a really good combination.

 

[scott44]

Anybody have any experience in planting NWSG and Pines/Spruce into the same area? I'd like the NWSG to provide some cover while the pines grow. Will this stunt the growth of the pines? I think a combination of pines & NWSG would make a really good combination.

I haven't done it but I'm doing it this year with planting Red Cedars pockets into 2yr old switch grass. My plans are to go in this spring and hit the areas with gly and plant and then maybe go back in later in the summer and hit it again if needed. Good luck if you do this.

 

[Greta&Gus]

I don't have experience in this, but this year we plan on spreading oak and fruit seeds when we plant NWSGs. I see no reason why pine trees wouldn't be able to establish in grasses with the proper sunlight.

 

[biglakeba$$]

I have been contemplating this as well. I ordered a couple hundred red cedar plugs for this spring and I might stick some into our 3 acre NWSG planting.
The NWSG is going on its 4th year this summer. Its not very thick yet, but definitely stuff growing in there.

 

[mnjohn]

I planted some white pine and highbush cranberry in my nwsg. Mulch or mat them and they will do fine. just remember where you planted them so when you mow you won't take them out.

 

[sandbur]

Just a suggestion-pile some jack pine limbs with cones attached in a donut shape in the NWSG and burn the brush pile.

Fire opens the comes and will ex[pose some soil.

The donut shape should provide a bedding pocket.

 

[sandbur]

This burning of a jack pine limbs can be done when there is snow on the ground if you have concerns of fire control in the NWSG. The fire just needs to burn down to the soil surface under the brush pile. You do not want too hot of a fire.

 

[scott44]

This burning of a jack pine limbs can be done when there is snow on the ground if you have concerns of fire control in the NWSG. The fire just needs to burn down to the soil surface under the brush pile. You do not want too hot of a fire.

This sounds like a great idea, I'll have to give this a try. I don't have any jack pines but maybe a brush fire to clear the area. Thx

 

[younggun1849]

This aerial shows a scenario similar to what I'm looking at doing. It is tall natural grass, with mixed pines throughout. It is a very consistent bedding area. When I would come home from college I would go hunt this farm because it was guaranteed to have deer transitioning from the pines and tall grass, towards the big AG field. I think a mix of Pines/Spruce and NWSG would be a really good combination. I'm going to try this in a few different spots this spring. I don't like the lack of cover when you initially plant pines, so putting them into NWSG would make it feel like a more immediate improvement, as opposed to waiting 5 years before the pines grow up.

 

[MNAaron]

I had this same idea for this upcoming spring and Dblcreek talked me out of it. Maybe I need to rethink it. I wanted to plant some big blue and switch grass (light mixture) and then come in with fabric and plant spruce and tamarack. He basically told me that I would not be able to maintain the grass via fire and that the trees growth would be stunted due to the competition from the grass. I wanted exactly what you are talking about. Some native grass growth and cover while the pines are growing and then afterwards grasses mixed in with conifers. Tough to beat that combination for a dry bedding area.

 

[scott44]

Where I am planting the red cedars I didn't plan on burning it, I guess if a guy was going to burn the native grasses this would be a problem.

 

[MNAaron]

Yeah I figured the same. I was going to burn it to begin with to get rid of the heavy thatch and then plant the natives and then follow up next year with the conifers and fabric. It is currently timothy grass. I figured it would give me a year to address any weeds with sprays etc...prior to planting the trees. How are you planning on tackling it Scott44?

 

[Freeborn]

Yeah I figured the same. I was going to burn it to begin with to get rid of the heavy thatch and then plant the natives and then follow up next year with the conifers and fabric. It is currently timothy grass. I figured it would give me a year to address any weeds with sprays etc...prior to planting the trees. How are you planning on tackling it Scott44?

Aaron, when I had my CRP and spuce wind breaks planted they planted the spruce in timothy. The idea is after the spruce gets established the native grasses will take over the timothy but not out-compete the spruce. I will most likely drill NWSG into the timothy to speed that process along but not until my trees are 7+ feet tall. I think if you plant any bareroot or plug evergreen into NWSG it would be similar to planting them into a shaded area and into a spot with allot of nutrient competiton. Matting would help this or buy 3' trees minimum.

 

[Freeborn]

Here is an idea.

Plant the pines/evergreens in strips with timothy leaving 10’ between the tree and NWSG. Plant as many strips as you think necessary to provide for the bulk of you planting. You can plant the strips in any angle you want as long as you can maintain them. Plant the remainder of the area outside of the strips into NWSG. Then in an area with your better soil plant a nursery of evergreens to be transplanted into the NWSG after the evergreen get big enough to compete with the NWSG.

Key to this is the quality of your soil and the mix of NWSG you plan to plant. The better the soil and the taller the grass mix the taller the evergreen needs to be before you transplant them out of the nursery and into the NWSG. If you have quality soil and you plant a tall mix it will be 7’tall and smother out you evergreen unless your evergreen is big enough to compete.

In my opinion the key is the evergreen as the NWSG will be full grown in 3 years while evergreens take 7 years to be good height.

 

[scott44]

Yeah I figured the same. I was going to burn it to begin with to get rid of the heavy thatch and then plant the natives and then follow up next year with the conifers and fabric. It is currently timothy grass. I figured it would give me a year to address any weeds with sprays etc...prior to planting the trees. How are you planning on tackling it Scott44?

Here's a pic of the prepped field 10/12, I planted the switch 2/13 see the pockets of Ash sapplings that are still green. all the Ash are dead now, that's where I plan on planting the cedars. My plan is to go in and spray gly and plant the trees in those existing pockets. If there is switch coming up in there I'll have to go back and spray again after it's up.

 

[Native Hunter]

White pines compete very well with NWSGs. They even do well in briers, and you can't say that about all seedlings.